Chapter 57: Body and Soul Both Drained

Everyone was stunned! It was as if they'd heard something utterly unbelievable!
Unbelievable!
They were just like puppets, frantically typing and clicking on keyboards, following the manager's instructions…
And the result… with a capital of 250 million, they'd managed to cut a 35% profit in just a few hours?
This meant… they'd earned nearly 90 million RMB in a single day?!
“Holy crap! This is unscientific! This is absolutely unscientific! Even a printing press couldn't do this fast!”
“A 35% intraday return from short-term trading?! Who would believe that?! Even Buffett would be kneeling before him!”
“Manager… how did he do that?… Can he really see the future?”
“Making money is a good thing… but… I feel completely drained, I don’t even want to move a finger…”
These traders, who considered themselves financial elites, experienced for the first time what it meant to be “both body and soul drained.”
Having worked as a trader for so many years, I've never encountered anything so outrageous!
They weren't doing any heavy physical labor!
It was just sitting in a chair, clicking the mouse and typing on the keyboard in front of a computer screen, right?
How come they're exhausted like dead dogs?
"By the way,"
just then, a voice came from the office doorway.
Everyone turned around in unison, and saw their manager, Su, rubbing his temples. It seemed that the intense "commands" he'd just given had taken a toll on him.
"I heard..." Su Hao glanced around at everyone, a thoughtful expression on his face, "that the foreign exchange market trades 24 hours a day, right?"
"Ah...?" Li Huilin nodded subconsciously, "Yes...yes..."
Suddenly!
An extremely ominous premonition, like a Siberian cold front, instantly swept over everyone present, causing them to involuntarily shiver.
The expressions on everyone's faces froze.
"Manager...why did he ask that?"
Su Hao's face lit up with a...
smile like a child discovering a new toy, a mixture of curiosity and anticipation. He nodded with satisfaction:
"Oh—"
He seemed very pleased with the answer, letting out a contented exclamation of pleasure.
Then he turned and walked briskly back to his office.
Leaving behind a group of bewildered, stunned people.
"What...what did that 'Oh—' he just said mean?"
"That expression...he seemed excited? Looking forward to it?"
"Wait...wait a minute! Does the manager mean...once the foreign exchange account is opened...we'll be...forced to sit in our chairs, working 24/7?!"
"Σ(っ°Д°;)っ!!! Hiss—"
A collective gasp and heartbroken sound filled the office...
***
Whoosh—!
Su Hao exhaled a long breath, feeling as if every bone in his body was oozing oil—it was incredibly exhilarating!
It felt like those days when he and his guildmates were raiding new dungeons, barely scraping by before finally defeating the boss—it was so thrilling!
"That was exhilarating...so exhilarating!"
Su Hao clicked his tongue, savoring the exhilarating feeling of manipulating stock charts with incredible precision.
However, while it was exhilarating, the aftereffects were far too severe.
"My head is buzzing, it feels like it's going to split open!"
He grimaced, his temples throbbing.
Imagine that electric, tingling sensation, like a jolt of pleasure that sends shivers down your spine, bombarding your nerves every few seconds…
Finally, he felt like a rag doll just pulled from a washing machine.
Forget about picking up a glass of water to drink; even holding the glass was unresponsive, numb, and devoid of any real sensation.
Even the cool water sliding down his throat became blurry, as if seen through a thick layer of frosted glass.
And that wasn't all!
His temples throbbed, burning hot.
It was like an engine overloaded to the point of bursting, threatening to explode at any moment!
So, he decisively chickened out and called it a day.
Logically, there was still some time before the market closed; he could have played a few more rounds.
But he had no doubt that if he continued playing like this, he would gloriously become the first person in the financial world to end up in the ICU because of "playing with candlestick charts."
Just then, the chairman messaged him to meet for dinner. Looks like he needs a good meal to replenish his energy!
***
Meanwhile, far away in another heavily guarded building, the atmosphere was completely different.
Following the stock market crash, the international market was rocked by the bombshell of "Greek debt default."
The entire financial market was like a pot of boiling water, bubbling and churning all day long, never stopping.
This is precisely why the Market Supervision Department is on high alert more than ever.
The more turbulent and tense the situation, the more vigilant they must be, keeping a close watch to prevent any unscrupulous individuals from stirring up trouble at this critical juncture.
After all, in difficult times and during lean years, people are more prone to taking risks and engaging in shady activities.
Like the simple, crude, and unsophisticated stock price manipulation groups in the domestic stock market in the early 21st century, they have largely disappeared under today's comprehensive financial regulatory system.
However, completely eradicating them is unrealistic.
But then again, if someone is determined to cause trouble, it's not entirely impossible.
It's simply a matter of how bold they are.
Of course, this kind of "boldness" is mostly the recklessness of "ignorance is bliss";
it's a suicidal act of "choosing the path to hell when there's one."
Back in the day, when the market was less developed, hundreds of stock manipulation cases were investigated annually!
A shocking number!
But with the continuous improvement of regulations and the sustained strengthening of crackdowns, this number has plummeted to around a few dozen.
Moreover, most of these cases involve relatively small sums of money and don't amount to much.
Often, in the end, the investigation is simply classified as "suspected irregularities," and the matter passes without much real impact.
“But… how the hell am I supposed to explain this report?”
Fang Jun, the director of the Market Supervision Department, stared intently at the transaction records from just a few hours ago on the computer screen, his eyes practically bulging out of their sockets.
The main players were a mysterious team under Fang Huan Investment.
The principal was exactly 250 million.
But…